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What I’ve Learned Wearing the LifeBand at the Office

I’ve worn SmartCap products for thousands of hours over the years; in mining trucks, road trains, planes, cars, for many long days in the office, and even in my kayak. But as time has passed and as I’ve moved further away from product development, I seem to now mostly use our product when I drive.

Last month that all changed, when our new VP of Product Development, Brett Carswell, asked us to test the new Life by SmartCap app release. Since then, I’ve worn it every day and I’ve quickly learned that my changing role (and maybe a little aging) has brought about some different patterns in my alertness throughout the day.

I’ve always considered myself a night owl. Whether I was writing algorithms or business plans, afternoons and late nights was when I did my best work. Not so anymore. The numbers don’t lie, and the verdict is in – I’ve become Mr. Average. Of course, I’d like to think I’m special in some ways, but when it comes to my peak times of performance, I’m like most; 9 am to midday is my time to shine!

The likely explanation is that I’ve adopted a healthier rhythm of getting to bed at a sensible hour, coupled with the fact that I’m well into my thirties (yes, that’s how I choose to say it). My afternoons show a window from 3 pm to 4 pm when I’m still quite sharp, but by 6 pm it’s time to call it a day.

So now what? Do I run to the marketing department and tell them that I have some cool insights that show how awesome our product is? Well yes, but it’s also time to make some changes.

Despite what I hope my boss thinks, some of my tasks are more on the mundane end of the spectrum – so it’s time to move them to early afternoon or late afternoon; the more demanding tasks I’ll hit mid-late morning.

“…I only found out that my own assumptions about my alertness didn’t align with reality because I measured it.”

It’s not a ray of light from the clouds by any measure. However, I only found out that my own assumptions about my alertness didn’t align with reality because I measured it. So while I get a little more productive, maybe you can buy a LifeBand or two and do the same!